We’ve got something for everyone.

Food lovers can be a tough crowd to shop for. After all, there are only so many useful kitchen gadgets and interesting bottles of Scotch you can give. But who better to offer excellent foodie gift-giving advice than some of the country’s best chefs? We asked, and they were happy to oblige. So check out this year’s edition of the Grub Street Gift Guide for more than 20 ideas — organized by price, in ascending order — from chefs like Marcus Samuelsson, Lydia Shire, Michael Chiarello, Daniel Humm, and plenty of others.

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Drinks are on us.

New York has teamed up with HowAboutWe for New York Dating — and this Wednesday they’re hosting a Lower East Side gallery walk through Lesley Heller Workspace, Lost Weekend NYC, Dino Eli Gallery, and Stephan Stoyanov Gallery. But not only will there be art and single members of the opposite sex: Thanks to Beck’s, there will also be free beer. Head here for more details and information on signing up.

The Art of the Date: A Gallery Walk On the LES [New York Dating]

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Roast chicken from Saxon & Parole.

Like it or not, all signs of summer are fast disappearing. But good-bye to sun and warmth also means hello to all the amazing food that fall brings with it: brothy stews; sweet, earthy root vegetables; tender roasted meats; and of course lots of warming whiskey drinks. (Bloggers have to fortify, after all.) To help everyone prepare for the sweater-weather months ahead, Grub Street has rounded up the 41 new things we’re most looking forward to trying this fall. The list is a mix of upcoming dishes from new restaurants, new dishes from old restaurants, and a few season-appropriate favorites we’ve been missing all summer. So check out the list, then take to the comments and let us know what it is you can’t wait to get your hands on.

And when you’re done checking out our picks, make sure you head over to our other Grub Street editions — Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and San Francisco — to see what they’re looking forward to this fall.

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Dinner at Tennessee’s Blackberry Farm.

El Bulli may be closing its doors, but the concept of the food-lovers’ pilgrimage is hardly going with it. Some people say the journey is more important than the destination — Grub Street says the journey is bunk if there isn’t something tasty waiting at the end. When summer hits and the urge to skip town strikes, it’s especially tricky to shake the desire to seek out the most unique, interesting, and, yes, delicious, food around. That’s why Grub Street’s editors have come together and scoured the country (yes, the whole country) to find a destination in every state that is worthy of your food fanaticism — okay, two in California, since getting Grub Street’s San Francisco and L.A. editors to agree on just one place would have been an impossible task. As the Michelin Guide is fond of saying, every one of these stops is worth a special journey.

That doesn’t mean Grub Street just plucked 50 fancy places and called it a day: All around the country, “great” food can come in some seriously unexpected places. So whether that means a high-end farm resort nestled in the Smoky Mountains; a tour of the country’s best bourbon distilleries; or a way out of the way, hole-in-the-wall chicken shack that serves up some of the best birds in North Carolina, we’ve looked for restaurants, tours, festivals, resorts, and activities that are well worth any amount of time it takes to get there. (In some cases, that’s a lot of time.)

Each and every one of these food-centric destinations has something that our editors find undeniably appealing — so much so that you could say these spots are all must-visits for the elite eaters out there (if not for bucket list purposes, then certainly for bragging rights). Grub Street by no means endorses the idea of hitting all of these spots this summer (though if you do attempt the feat, by all means let us know), but no matter where you find yourself over the next few months, know that there’s a journey (and a great destination) waiting for you.

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Clockwise from lower left: knife sharpener, charcoal, smoker, grill, and remote thermometer.

Dads are notoriously difficult to shop for, but sometimes the requisite sports book or the annual tie are just too lame. This Father’s Day, encourage your pop to reach his grilling potential by trading in that dusty bag of Kingsford charcoal and greasy, rickety grill for some tools the pros use. Below, see gift recommendations from the country’s leading meat wranglers.

“We use our Robot Coupe processor ($495) to make our spice rubs. It’s great, because you can use it to chop and mix seasonings really well and it saves you so much time. Ours is huge, but you could easily get by with a smaller one at home.”
—Jason Tremblay, Soul Fire Barbecue in Boston

“The grills that Grill Works (from $2,475.00) makes are insane. They are a must for anyone who is serious about grilling.”
—Ryan Farr, 4505 Meats in San Francisco

“Avoid that ‘grilling set’ that includes a fork and silly long knife that comes in a specially designed box as if it was a set of dueling pistols. Most importantly, you need a well-made pair of tongs that gives you a firm grasp on whatever you’re grilling. The ones I use are made by Vollrath (from $8).They should be long, at least fifteen inches, have a non-heat conducting handle, and a proper spring device allowing them to open when you relax your grip. Try it out in the store before buying.”
—Jonathan Burrows, chef-owner Mr. Cecil’s California Ribs in Los Angeles

“The Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker ($299) is pretty much my favorite thing. When I barbecue at home, this is what I use. Barbecue is all about a consistent temperature: keeping things slow and low. This is one of the best smokers on the market and you can use it to make all kinds of beautiful meats.”
—Andy Husbands, chef-owner Tremont 647 in Boston; team member IQUE BBQ

“Every father needs to have the following grilling essentials: A twenty-pound bag of Nature-Glo Hardwood Charcoal, which is a combination of hickory and oak and burns very hot and clean. Then he’ll need a basting sauce pot and brush from Williams-Sonoma ($29.95), and of course Zeke’s Dry Rub ($5.95). And for the father who has everything, a Milano Arosti Grille from J & R Manufacturing (priced on request). It is a restaurant quality grill-rotisserie combination.”
—Michael Rosen, owner-pitmaster, Zeke’s Smokehouse in Los Angeles

“A knife sharpener ($69.95) is essential for good barbecue. Every morning I trim brisket. In order to get the fat off accurately and without wasting any of the good meat, I need a sharp knife. If it’s not sharp, I might as well be using my hands. I use the old-fashioned kind; a long pointy one called a honing steel.”
—Demetri Botsaris, owner, Phoebe’s Bar-B-Q in Philadelphia

“One of my favorite barbecue devices is a good Weber thermometer. Two of ‘em, actually: an instant-read thermometer ($12.99) that you can put in the meat and get a temperature right away, and a remote thermometer($39.99) that you can use to monitor the temperature while it cooks. I like to cook a lot of loin of pork, chicken, stuff like that, and the worst thing you can do is overcook it. So you insert the probe into the meat, put the meat in your smoker or on the grill, and then you can set the alarm for what temperature you want it to beep at. I like to take my pork out at 140, 145 degrees, so the alarm beeps then when it heats that temperature: ‘Your meat is done! Your meat is done!’ You know, sometimes people get distracted, they walk away, and then twenty minutes they’re like ‘Aah! I forgot the meat!’ With the remote thermometer that never happens.”
—“Big Lou” Elrose, pitmaster, Wildwood Barbeque in New York.

“A good smoker is what you really need. Weber Grill make a good model ($390.00). You can pick those up at Home Depot. That’ll get the job done.
—Robert Adams, Honey 1 BBQ in Chicago

“There’s one thing I use a lot, though I don’t know if I’d recommend it for the everyday backyard barbecue: It’s a weed burner, which is kind of like a flame thrower. You can pick it up at Home Depot, you attach it to a propane tank, and it puts out like 100,000 BTUs of gas. We use it to start our charcoal really fast, rather than using lighter fluid or a chimney starter with newspaper. You just hit the coals with the weed burner for like a minute, and you’re ready to go. It’s sold for home use — just be careful.”
—Robbie Richter, pitmaster, Fatty ‘Cue in Brooklyn

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Top Chef premieres tonight on Bravo (9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific), and the seventh season is set in our nation’s capital. There’s nothing Washington likes more than a good trashing vetting, so Grub Street thoroughly examined the backgrounds of the six chefs who represent the cities of New York, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. We found what they forgot to make private on Facebook, tracked their Twitter feeds, and interviewed their colleagues. Read our dossiers, below.

Kevin SbragaCourtesy of Bravo

Kevin Sbraga, 31, Philadelphia
Sbraga’s bio boasts of stints at Georges in Wayne, Pennsylvania, and Union Trust and Garces Restaurant Group (GRG) in Philadelphia. Grub Street interviewed several people who worked with Sbraga at Union Trust and GRG, but all refused to speak on the record. Today he’s the executive chef at Rat’s Restaurantat the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, New Jersey, which is operated by Starr Restaurant Organization.

The son of a baker parents, Sbraga went to Johnson & Wales, and in 2008 won the “Best Meat Presentation” award at the Bocuse d’Or qualifier. Philadelphia magazine referred to him in a recent interview as a “chef’s chef.”

Lynn GigliottiCourtesy of Bravo

Lynne Gigliotti, 51, Philadelphia
Gigliotti is a Philly Restaurant School and CIA graduate. She worked for Gordon Keith Wagner Caterers and later Restaurant La Terrasse in the eighties, and then spent some time on the line at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta and the Jean-Louis at the Watergate. She owned and operated her own restaurant, Grappa, in Atlanta, and now teaches at the CIA.

“I remember that she was quiet and a little shy, but was an extremely talented chef,” Gigliotti’s former boss Gordon Keith Wagner told us. “Sometimes people get the nuts and bolts of cooking, but not everybody has the nuts and bolts and the taste buds to go along with it. She had a great sense of taste and was extremely creative. I wouldn’t say she was the most level-headed chef — I don’t think there is such a thing — but she was the most passionate.”

According to Gigliotti’s Facebook page, her favorite quotation is: “Let me refer you to my web site, WWW.gofuckyourself.com.” Her profile says: “If you like Tom Robbins and Carl Haissen books, you will get my sense of humor.”

Jacqueline LombardCourtesy of Bravo

Jacqueline Lombard, 33, Brooklyn
Jacqueline Lombard (Jacqui to her friends) is “an incredibly energetic, curious, and talented woman,” Otto pastry chef Meredith Kurtzman told us of her former sous. “She was a valuable part of the team.” Lombard joined Otto after ditching her advertising career to attend the French Culinary Institute. When she left the restaurant to start a catering company, Mario Batali introduced her to Stella McCartney, a relationship that spawned her niche as caterer to the fashion people, a crowd not exactly known for their robust eating habits. (In a 2008 Paper magazine interview, Lombard called McCartney her “mommy client,” and mentioned cooking for luminaries like Elle MacPherson and Jil Sander.)

After a few years in the fashion-catering trenches, Lombard returned to life as a restaurant chef when she signed on last February at the Gansevoort 69, the restaurant that replaced beloved meatpacking district diner Florent. She wasn’t there long — the timeline indicates that she left right around when Top Chef began shooting. Lombard was briefly affiliated with a little-known restaurant called Leña, but she’s now part of the team at Greenpoint’s Café Royal. (Owner Cody Utzman explained that he, Lombard, and Lombard’s roommate, Natty Felder, all share chef-ing duties at Café Royal and its sister restaurants, Brooklyn Standard and Papacitos.) Lombard is affiliated with the website nyherald.com, (her Top Chef bio lists her as the site’s “Dining and Wine Editor,” though the website itself — which has updated its dining section twice in 2010 — refers to her as a “contributor.”) And through it all she’s stayed tight with the fashion set, staging “pop-up restaurants” for the likes of Balenciaga and Jil Sander as recently as yesterday, per her Facebook page.

Though perhaps not entirely relevant to her Top Chef prospects, we cannot let pass without comment Lombard’s contribution to 2009’s “25 Random Things” Facebook meme. These range from the mundane (she was born Amanda Jacqueline Moffat) to the extraordinary (the last name “Lombard” came courtesy of her ex-husband, who, in a stunning narrative twist, turned out to be her half-brother’s second cousin). Other spectacular Chef Jacqui facts: She was a lingerie model “for five minutes”; she’s had rubella, Lyme disease, viral meningitis, and hepatitis A; she’s double-jointed; she claims to have four nipples; and when she was 6 years old she watched the movie The Last Unicorn and became convinced she was a unicorn trapped in a human body. Her Twitter account, wisely, is locked.

Ed CottonCourtesy of Bravo

Ed Cotton, 32, New York
A second-generation CIA grad, Ed Cotton is also a second-generation chef. Chef Ed Cotton Sr., ran the kitchen at the now-closed Cottage Crest Restaurant in Waltham, Massachusetts, exposing his son to the cooking bug early. Cotton Fils studied Culinary Arts as a student at Lexington, Massachusetts’s Minuteman Career & Technical High School. (On the school’s website, a teacher praises him as someone whose “natural talent for cooking and love of food was obvious.”) When Cotton finally landed in New York, he spent five years working for Daniel Boulud at db Bistro Moderne and Daniel — and got his first taste of TV fame when he signed on as Cat Cora’s sous-chef on Iron Chef America. She calls him her “dear friend and respected sous-chef.”

In the last three years, Cotton’s logged serious hours hopping from one high-profile position to another: In 2007, he was rumored to be the opening chef at Bar Boulud, but instead landed at Veritas (from which he was shortly fired). Cotton ran the kitchen at BLT Market for a little over a year, before picking up yet another gig last fall launching the Tribeca restaurant Plein Sud, which opened in April. (He’s currently hiring for line cooks!) Despite all the marquee executive chef-ing, Cotton does have dreams of opening his own place someday: He told the Waltham Daily News Tribune that he’d like to name a restaurant Alfonsina, in honor of his Sicilian grandmother.

According to Cotton’s not-so-private Facebook page, he doesn’t like to shop at Tribeca Whole Foods, listens to Jane’s Addiction and Fugazi, and likes to watch that painting show with (R.I.P.) Bob Ross.

Amanda BaumgarutenCourtesy of Bravo

Amanda Baumgarten, 27, Los Angeles
“Don’t underestimate Amanda,” warns chef Ben Ford of Ford’s Filling Station, where Amanda Baumgarten worked before her recent turn as sous-chef at Water Grill. The 27-year-old had her start in the London kitchens of La Tante Claire and Le Gavroche after training at the city’s Cordon Bleu, followed by sous-chef stints for respected L.A. names like Melisse and Patina. And if the Facebook photo of her firing a handgun wasn’t enough to terrify the competition, Ford calls her “tough” and “battle-ready.” “[She's] one of the most talented cooks I’ve ever worked with. I used to throw her curve-balls she routinely hit out of the park, so no doubt she will do well in this competition.” But does this Scorpio with a background in butchery also have a softer side?

Brigitte Kouba, of Brentwood’s Literati II, went to high school with Baumgarten and thinks the chef could win the competition by strength of character alone. “Amanda has always been fiercely intelligent, fabulously charismatic, and wildly creative,” Kouba tells Grub Street. Her intelligence will make her a strong competitor, her personality will make her a favorite among viewers, and her creativity in the kitchen will blow the judges away. She’s smart and savvy with a great sense of humor, so she definitely has what it takes to become the next Top Chef.”

If that’s the case, Baumgarten may have less time to pursue her Facebook interests, which include “harper’s, new yorker fiction podcast, [and] ira glass.” She claims to not own a television, but that’s probably why she has so much time to read. Favorite titles include In Cold Blood, Cat’s Cradle, and Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas. Follow her on Twitter, just in case she decides to post more than three times.

Alex ReznikCourtesy of Bravo

Alex Reznik, 33, Los Angeles
The six-foot-two Alex Reznik made his name cooking in Vegas at Lutece and Paris Casino before upping the culinary cred of Ivan Kane’s nightlife empire by opening Café Was with the impresario. “I had finally met a kindred spirit,” Kane says of their first encounter. “Café Was needed a bohemian approach and a theatricality of cuisine that had confused others I had met who were less daring and unwilling to turn dining into an adventure.”

A Brooklyn native who cites Paramus, New Jersey, as his hometown on Facebook, Reznik adopted California as both home and culinary inspiration, focusing on seasonal cooking and local ingredients, with actual farmers’ market sightings to prove it.

Long before he was so sustainable, Reznik grew up eating his mother’s Russian cooking and has his foundation in traditional French cuisine. However, after losing 30 pounds in 2007, Reznik flipped his style to include healthy substitutions (like replacing butter with flavored vegetable stock in risotto) and introduced veggie and vegan tasting menus last July.

Ivan Kane promises that viewers won’t forget the creative chef, who’s known for lollipop frog’s legs and Thai duck-leg confit. He teases, “Plowing ahead where angels fear to go, Alex has a real outlaw spirit in his approach to cooking. What completes the package, however, is a real dose of humility. He’s a character, equally as comfortable in the front of the house as he is in the kitchen. This combination of compelling charm and distinctive, delicious food, I am certain, will take him far on season seven of Top Chef.”

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Plenty of chefs source their cooking abilities along matrilineal roots, so it’s no surprise that many menus carry recipes passed down by mothers and grandmothers. When it comes time for chefs to honor Mom (specifically Sunday, you ungrateful brats), there’s no better way to do it than serving them a meal. We asked several chefs across the country about what they like to make for Mom. Get inspiration below, but remember — it’s not too late to make brunch reservations.

Sascha Lyon, Delphine, Los Angeles
“My mom loves eggs and bacon. It’s what she calls a ‘manly breakfast.’ So without a doubt I would make her a soft herb omelette with a side of extra crispy bacon, served with a glass of Champagne. That would make her day.”

Anita Lo, Annisa, New York
“My mother passed away this past year, so it’s not possible for me to cook for her anymore. In theory, I would love to cook for her at Annisa, for her to see its rebirth. My mother was an omnivore; she loved food — there were very few things that she didn’t like. She was really happy with the foie gras soup dumplings at Annisa, which were based on one of her dishes — I think that was exciting for her when she had it for the first time ten years ago. Every Mother’s Day I do a special [at the restaurant] of her steamed fish, though I sort of make it fancier. She’d do a whole steamed fish with scallions and ginger, really simple with some soy sauce and sesame oil. It was so clean, it was just delicious. I do a filet of something, steamed exactly the same way, and this time of year I’d do pea shoots with oyster sauce and a scallion oil. Something exactly the way she used to cook it.”

Jason Santos, Gargoyles on the Square, Boston
“Every Mother’s Day I make my mom properly cooked eggs because she struggles with making good eggs for breakfast. Her favorite dish is my breakfast pizza, which is topped with eggs, potatoes, bacon, and Cheddar cheese. She loves that.”

Ryan Poli, Perennial, Chicago
“My mom is real easy going for mothers day. All she wants is her boys (me and my two brothers) to get together for the day and go to brunch or come over to the house for dinner. Everything else is just an added bonus for her. I remember a few years ago, I had just got back from living in Spain, and got back the night before Mother’s Day. I stayed the night at my parents house and in the morning just made a simple breakfast, Spanish tortilla, and pan con tomate (tomato bread). It took me about 15 minutes to make and was no big deal. She still to this day talks about it. I don’t think it was the meal we had or the way I cooked it that was memorable, it was her son who was gone for a long time was home siting with her enjoying breakfast and each others’ company.

Russell Jackson, Lafitte, San Francisco
“The last thing that I cooked for my mom was braised chanterelles with a poached egg. But I’m always changing it up, and if I were going to cook something for her now, it would be something from the Silver Palate cookbook that she just gave me.”

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Marea’s dining room.

Throughout the day, Grub Street will post its predictions for tonight’s James Beard Awards. Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees.

Best New Restaurant
“A restaurant opened in 2009 that already displays excellence in food, beverage, and service and is likely to have a significant impact on the industry in years to come.” Recent winners include: Momofuku Ko (New York), Central Michel Richard (D.C.), and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon (New York).

Bibou, Philadelphia
For It: Former Le-Bec Fin chef de cuisine Pierre Calmels is “cooking the most soulful and polished French bistro fare around,” said Craig LeBan. Alan Richman called Bibou one of the “best new restaurants in America.”
Against It: It’s a BYO. Great for value, but isn’t wine service an integral part of the restaurant experience?

Flour + Water, San Francisco
For It: It boasts one of Travel & Leisure’s eleven best pizzas in the country; pizza fanatic Michael Bauer raved and raved; it was named one of Michelin’s Bib Gourmand picks; and both the Times and Gourmet love it, too.
Against It: The food may not be as refined as its competitors, being primarily a pizza-and-pasta joint, and the atmosphere is a lot more casual (and loud) than at Frances or RN74.

Frances, San Francisco
For It: Chef Melissa Perello’s new solo effort has already garnered a three-star review from the Chron’s Michael Bauer and accolades from the weeklies, as well; was named one of Forbes‘ Best New Restaurants in the nation; and Perello was a Chron Rising Star Chef back in 2002 and one of Food & Wine’s Best New Chefs in 2004.
Against It: It’s only been around since December, and may be too new to beat out its slightly more seasoned competitors.

Locanda Verde, New York City
For It: Andrew Carmellini is well liked by critics, chefs, and the public alike, and his Locanda Verde quickly became an affordable favorite for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. New York gave the restaurant Best Baked Goods honors, Sam Sifton highlighted the maple budino as one of 2009’s best dishes, and John Mariani put Locanda Verde on Esquire’s Best New Restaurants list. Carmellini’s lamb-meatball sliders took top honors at the NYWFF’s inaugural Meatball Madness event.
Against It: “This kind of crowd-pleasing cooking isn’t designed to win culinary awards, of course,” cautions Adam Platt.

Marea, New York City
For It: The biggest New York opening of 2009. Chef Michael White’s upscale, glittering seafood palace drew early raves from people who didn’t care how expensive it was, how far uptown it was, and how far the fish traveled to the kitchen via FedEx. Bloomberg’s Ryan Sutton called it the “restaurant of the year”. Adam Platt pegged Marea as a best new restaurant, as did Esquire. Anthony Bourdain told his No Reservations audience that White’s bone-marrow pasta with turbo was “the most magnificent pasta dish in memory.”
Against It: It’s a boom restaurant in a busted world.

RN74, San Francisco
For It: After Michael Mina’s casual concept opened in mid-2009, Michael Bauer gave it three stars and said it “gives the wine bar concept a white-tablecloth turn.” Exec chef Jason Berthold is a French Laundry alum and proprietor Mina is a previous Beard award winner for his cookbooks, for Rising Star in 1997, and Best Chef: Pacific in 2002. If already being part of the club counts, then this should help.
Against It: It got some mixed reviews for the service; and while Mina is an established name, Berthold is still proving himself.

Grub Street Predicts: Marea
Too many San Francisco entries could split votes. Bibou is a BYO. Locanda Verde is a high-quality neighborhood restaurant. But Marea is proof that restaurants can still go big. Chefs and restaurateurs are not immune to that hopey-changey thing.

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The familiar hams and lambs of Easter are gleefully shoved aside for that other holiday staple: chocolate. Helen Rosner found some of the city’s most ornate and festive seasonal candy, from the Easter-egg hunt in a box from L.A. Burdick (pictured) to the Barnyard Mix from Papabubble. View the slideshow and then place your order.

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Resort casino Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas first broke ground five years ago, and it’s finally (almost) ready to announce its Big Apple culinary lineup. Rumor has it the roster includes Scott Conant, Costas Spiliadis from Estiatorio Milos, Bruce and Eric Bromberg, Jonathan Segal of STK, and David Myers of Sona in L.A. Plus, Kenny Shopsin is in talks about doing a Slutty Cakes pop-up kiosk in the lobby (kidding!).

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Damien DiPaola’s scores with seared scallops with a spicy grapefruit glaze.

Last Christmas, we turned to industry professionals to see what real foodies put on their wish list. Since fewer things in the world are as intimate as eating together, we sought Valentine’s Day advice from toques in the know from all over the country. Read on and make your shopping list. You’ve got plenty of time to prepare for Sunday.

“The way I get my girlfriend: I get fresh baby arugula, lemon juice, and olive oil, fresh Parmesan cheese, and sliced prosciutto, with a mixture of olives, and a baguette. That’s how I win her over. There’s something about sitting down on the couch and eating with your fingers — it’s playful and simple.”
—Jesse Schenker, chef, Recette, New York City

“Everyone celebrates with flowers on Valentine’s Day, so take it to the next level and extend the flower celebration into your cooking to create a tasty and romantic dish. I would make a herb salad and violet flower tart. You can massage the dough together with your lover’s hands — think of the movie Ghost and the pottery scene. Create a shape of the tart together and then add herbs that are spicy and aphrodisiacs, like fenugreek. Top off with colorful violet flowers, creating the perfect colorful, edible Valentine bouquet.”
—Ludo Lefebvre, LudoBites, Culver City, California

“I’d start with Fanny bay oysters — we all know why — in avocado soup, as the Aztecs named the avocado tree ‘Ahuacuatl,’ meaning ‘testicle tree.’ I love arugula, so I’d make a wild-arugula salad with a sweet-basil vinaigrette. The basil will produce a general sense of well being to start the night. As a main course, I’d serve pan-seared Mediterranean turbot with white truffles, as the musky scent from the truffles should stimulate and sensitize her skin. I’d finish with raspberry and strawberry shortcake. The berries are considered fruit nipples in erotic literature, with vanilla anglaise, as the vanilla will increase her lust.”
—Todd Allison, Checker’s Downtown, Los Angeles

“I’d have lots and lots of Champagne Marguet Rose. It’s great matched with spicy foods, strong foods, all kinds of good things. That would really get the party started. Champagne, caviar, oysters — the things that are really seductive. But nothing heavy — you know if you want to close the deal, you don’t want to pass out. You don’t want to be in a food coma because you ate a whole bowl of risotto. And then for dessert we have a passion-fruit semifreddo with a little buttermilk cake and crispy meringue. You know, passion fruit is perfect. And then you can have the whole rest of the night to do whatever you want.”
—Suzy Crofton, chef-owner, Crofton on Wells, Chicago

“Definitely a little caviar with Champagne and a few oysters. Maybe a sexy, creamy pasta as a mid-course, and on to a steak with bordelaise with a hint of bittersweet chocolate for a main course. Definitely a little passion fruit and blood orange somewhere in the midst of the evening. And we’d finish off with lingering aromatics combined with chocolate, blindfolded and fed to each other.”
—Elizabeth Falkner, Orson and Citizen Cake, San Francisco

“I make this once a year. I shuck oysters in the half-shell and put them in the grill, and I do some grilled octopus, too. I serve it with watercress salad, some hearts of palm, tomato, and I make a chili sauce to give it a little heat. It’s not too heavy and the oysters and octopus are kind of soft, little dishes. It is an aphrodisiac — the octopus too! As a Latino and a chef, I’m always looking for something to keep the wife happy and this definitely works. I have the grilled octopus on the menu at the restaurant, but the grilled oysters are just for my wife, to keep it special.”
—Edgar Alvarez, executive chef-owner of Avenida, Philadelphia

“I make my seared scallops with a spicy grapefruit glaze. The scallops have a very velvety, smooth, and sensual texture. These textures provoke ones inner sexual thoughts and fantasies. The sweet and spicy of the grapefruit saffron sauce also evoke the lady (sweet) in the street, whore (spicy) in the bedroom quality that all true men love. Consider all the aphrodisiacs in the dish itself: the scallops, the five spices, the ginger, the cayenne pepper, the saffron, and the wild mushrooms. This scallop preparation is also very light, not heavy and sex-stopping. Now you know why this dish definitely seals the deal and gets her from table to mattress.”
—Damien DiPaola, executive chef at Ristorante Damiano, Boston

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Filed Under: user’s guide, damien dipaola, edgar alvarez, elizabeth falkner, jesse schenker, ludo lefebvre, now that’s what we call food porn, suzy crofton, todd allison, valentine’s day

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Clockwise from left, SousVide Supreme, Microplane grater, Kold Draft ice machine, and a Nespresso machine.

Time may be running out for everyone but Santa Claus, but Grub Street has some ideas for the procrastinators among us. We spoke with food professionals all over the country — chefs, sommeliers, bartenders, and pastry chefs — to see what they want to find under the tree. And what’s good enough for these notable food professionals is sure to be a delight for your own enthusiastic amateur.

CHEFS
“This year, I want a Nenox Utility Knife ($467).”
—Josh Sharkey, Bark in New York City

“I’m a fan of the brown liquid. I like to drink whiskey neat and on the rocks. For my home, I’d really like this Spherical Ice Tray Set ($16) to make my ‘rocks.’”
—Jose Garces, Amada, Tinto, Village Whiskey, Chifa, Distrito in Philly; Mercat a la Planxa in Chicago

“The new Nespresso machine ($329.99) is very cool, with the side frother that froths your milk for you.”
—John Cuevas, Montage in Beverly Hills

BARTENDERS
“I want a Yarai mixing glass ($49.95). Remember when you were a kid and you told your mom that those new sneakers would make you run faster? Well, this mixing glass will make my drinks taste better. I don’t know how, but it will. It’s science, I guess.”
—Colin Shearn, the Franklin in Philadelphia

“If I could afford it, for the bar, there’s one thing I’d love to have: It’s one of those ice machines (priced on request) that makes perfect square ice cubes. But our small little place, just four bartenders who opened a bar, we can’t afford that. That would be something Santa could bring me, and I would just love him to death.”
—Trina Sturm, Trina’s Starlite Lounge, Somerville, Massachusetts

“I’d love a Vita-Prep mixer ($517.44). I make a lot of my own purées and syrups, and I just have a little mixer, while the kitchen gets all the good gadgets.”
—Lynn House, Graham Elliot in Chicago

PASTRY CHEFS
A new Microplane grater ($14.95), which I use for zesting. Mine won’t even zest butter. It’s kind of a joke, that our Microplane is so dull.
—Chrysta Wilson, Kiss My Bundt, Los Angeles

“The beauty of pastry is you can get tools from anywhere — from Home Depot to the pharmaceutical company. I would like a refractometer ($595) for measuring the density of sugar. It tells you how much sugar is in a dish and is a great tool for adjusting recipes accordingly.”
—Cedric Barberet, Le Bec Fin, Philadelphia

“An earthenware pot ($55.99) to make Jim Lahey’s bread from My Bread.
—Joanne Chang, Flour Bakery, Boston

SOMMELIERS
“I would like the Riedel Sommelier Series Sauternes glasses ($77 each). I don’t sit around drinking Sauternes, but they’re excellent for Champagne. The traditionally shaped glass doesn’t necessarily show off what the wines have to offer, so I usually use a white-wine, or even a bigger red-wine, glass to be able to smell it better. You want a wider surface area, and one that’s shaped to funnel the aromas to your nose. These glasses have the sharpest inner sweep of any glass, and it’s also a beautiful shape, very elegant.”
— John Slover, Grand Cru Wine Consulting and Bar Henry in New York

“Laguiole, the French maker of wood handles, makes really nice wine openers (from $178) and the steak knives (from $398) are so beautiful.”
—Alex Weil, Bouchon, Beverly Hills

“What I really want this year is a SousVide Supreme ($449). I want to make the runny egg from the Momofuku cookbook, and I would sous-vide everything. I do a lot of dinner parties.”
—Alpana Singh, Lettuce Entertain You, Chicago

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Filed Under: bring us some figgy pudding, alex weil, alpana singh, bartenders, cedric barberet, chefs, christmas, chrysta wilson, colin shearn, holidays, joanne chang, john cuevas, john slover, jose garces, josh sharkey, lynn house, pastry chefs, sommeliers, trina sturm

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